Frank van Gool (CEO OTTO Holding): "Due to the ageing population, healthcare in Western Europe has major challenges. Deploying people from Eastern and Southern Europe is not a structural solution, because they have the same problems there. In the Netherlands, we are already short 49,000 people in healthcare this year, which will triple to 150,000 in 2030. Together, we must try to reduce the workload in care and make it more attractive to work in care. We cannot postpone the discussion on how we want to organise healthcare in the future. We cannot allow work pressure and the number of postponed operations to increase even further. We want to offer a short-term solution by having foreign nurses work in the Netherlands temporarily. In other European countries, such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, this has already been done for some time and it has been seen as very positive. Germany, for example, has the so-called 'Triple Win programme' in which 3500 nurses have been employed so far. This is good for the German health care system, for prosperity in the Philippines and, of course, for the nurses themselves. Germany plans to bring an additional 600 Filipino nurses to Germany this year.

Apart from the fact that working temporarily in Europe is good for the person's development, various studies show that prosperity in the country of origin increases by leaps and bounds through remittances to the home country. The idea that these plans come at the expense of the Filipino community, for example, is incorrect. Studies show that countries of origin benefit enormously. Prosperity increases enormously and fewer people live in poverty. There is therefore a 'brain gain'.  

Dutch hospitals eager to receive nurses

Through OTTO Health Care, OTTO Holding focuses on the development of, among other things, the 'Asia Europe Talent Bridge' in order to solve shortages in the European labour market. In cooperation with Dutch hospitals OTTO Health Care wants to bring Filipino and Indonesian specialised and highly qualified nurses to the Netherlands in a pilot project before the end of the year. The nurses will be (intensively) trained in their home country in the Dutch language, culture and care and will come to the Netherlands for a limited number of years in order to relieve the pressure on the Dutch health care system. The first nurses are expected in the third quarter of this year.